Tire Size Question

[Solar]

EDIT: I figured it out, I'm going to get a 215/45/17 wheel and tire set up for my Civic.

[Alizarin]

OK, but depending on how much clearance you have, and the width of your rims, you could get 225/45 in a bigger selection for cheaper.

[Solar]

Everyone I talk to says the 225's will be to big. I don't see how it could be a problem on a 17 x 7 wheel and vehicle clearance isn't an issue. I'm getting really confused, I would like to run a 225, but keep getting conflicting advice.

[Alizarin]

For a little perspective, people run 225's all the time on their stock WRX wheels (which are 7" wide). If it won't rub on the vehicle, I say do eet!

[deadmeat]

On my Miata, I have hankook 225's on the car, on 15" wheels.

They hit the fender wells, (just got a fender roller, so yay!). But that problem should be solved.

See if someone has the size tire you want to run and find out for sure if they will rub or not

-meaty

[impalanut]

Why go with such large wheels. They will be heavy and expensive for wheels and tires. You may be better off with smaller diameter wheels. If your overall tire height is smaller this is like a numerically larger gear, therefore better torque and acceleration. You will also spend less money. I run thirteen inch wheels on my crx. You don't have to go that small but if this is primarily for autocross the larger size wheels are a disadvantage.

[Native]

Why go with such large wheels. They will be heavy and expensive for wheels and tires. You may be better off with smaller diameter wheels. If your overall tire height is smaller this is like a numerically larger gear, therefore better torque and acceleration. You will also spend less money.

+1

[rippin mazda]

On my Miata, I have hankook 225's on the car, on 15" wheels.

They hit the fender wells, (just got a fender roller, so yay!). But that problem should be solved.

-meaty

You just need more spring rate.

[deadmeat]

It wasn't a matter of bottoming out, it was a matter of the tires were so wide, that when I went on extreme turns like in the clover leaf, the tires hit the fenders...

-meaty

[Charles]

What those guys said...... I'd stick with 15's..... besides the weight, great 15" tires will be cheaper than crap 17" tires........

[Anonymous]

Other factors hurting its performance figures included not having an LSD (limited slip differential), and having to shift into third gear to get to 60. First gear ends at about 30, second ends at 55, and third ends at 82 mph (132 km/h). The car has a 6,850 rpm redline with a 7,100 rpm cutoff.

I'd put 17" wheels on it. Putting 15" wheels on this car would absolutely suck on faster courses like Brooksville.

[impalanut]

Why would taller tires be better anywhere unless you have so much torque that you are trying to get more speed without shifting. You are talking about a car with limited torque and a shorter tire is like better gearing.

[Anonymous]

Going from 215/45/17 to 225/50/15 would lose you 2 mph, so now your redline is 53 mph in 2nd gear. Unless you are really good at shifting, that is going to be slower on some courses.

Not to mention that 225/50 are balloon tires. Smaller sidewall is always going to give better handling.
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Keep the sidewall size the same and go with 215/45/15 tires, now you are losing 5 mph, and the redline comes at 50 mph in 2nd. Having to shift is going to be much slower than any acceleration gained from smaller diameter.

[rippin mazda]

The only advantage you would get is not needed to shift into 3rd on certain tracks. IMO the wieght and cost penalty of 17's isn't worth not having to shift on a few tracks.

+ whatever on 15's.

[Solar]

See what I mean about conflicting advice?

The 17" tire and wheel set up I'm looking at weigh less than my stock 15" wheels.

I want the smallest sidewall I can get away with. A 225 won't fit on my 6" stock wheels, the biggest I can get away with is a 205/50/15 and that's not much better than what I have now. I'm also finding a much better selection of tires in the 225/45/17 range than others. From the tire calculator I've looked at, the 17" set up is less than a ½" taller than my stock wheel and tire.

I've looked into the smaller wheel set up, and understand the reasoning behind the fact. I'm not having much luck finding a wheel and tire set up in the smaller size.

[Native]

215/45/17 will have almost the same contact patch as a 225, and depending on the tire, maybe even more, and a shorter sidewall, too. Still lots of selections...

[Alizarin]

Brian, you can get a 225 on a 15" wheel... you'll have plenty of sidewall to work with. Hell, I put a set 235/40 R-comps on 17x7.5... the guys at the tire shoppe had to beat the tires with a hammer, and I definitely got my money's worth compared to the 2 hours it took them to get the beads on the sidewalls to take on the 4 tires, but they went on.

[Solar]

Kenny, I know I can get a 225 on a 15" wheel, but the photo's I've seen with 225's on a stock 6" wide Civic wheel, the sidewalls are bulging. Besides I want a seperate set of Autocross wheels and tires so I might as well get the widest wheel that will work. I've decided on either 215 or 225 45/17 set up, now I just need to find a combo that I like.

Thanks, B

[Solar]

EDIT: Double post